MzTeachuh is a daily blog providing educational links for professional development, timely articles for special needs, ed tech and STEM, as well as interesting and amusing posts in the Fine Arts and the Humanities.

Then, forced immigration. I would say that the mandated expulsions of the Irish from their homeland is a marvelous example of the law of unintended consequences, though not so marvelous from the British perspective.

The leadership (the Wild Geese) were 'invited' to leave by the British, then fulfilled important roles in the empires and governments of Europe. Later, Cromwell especially liked to be rid of Irish Catholics, even sending Irish enslaved to the Caribbean. The Scots, especially Highlanders, were exported to Northern Ireland then to the American Colonies after the Bonnie Prince Charlie fiasco, along with the northern Irish that were troublesome to the British (for frequently having uprising for independence.) About thirty years later, the American Revolution began.

Convicts in Australia

The Irish were loaded into 'convict' ships to Australia--Australia, now a mighty example of democracy. The potato famine was celebrated by British capitalists as a brilliant opportunity to be rid of the Irish, either by starvation, disease or evacuation to Canada or the

Grosse Isle Memorial, list of the lost.

USA on 'coffin' ships. There is a memorial in Canada at Grosse Isle, where my Sullivan ancestors arrived in 1842--one Sullivan survived, Elizabeth, my great great grandmother.

The vibrant contribution of Irish Canadians and Irish Americans is self evident, and not to underestimate the contributions of the same to the persistent, dogged, relentless cause of Irish independence. Unintended consequences (to the British.) But Irish independence is a whole other story.

Irish Canadian

Irish American

The City of Chicago - Christy Moore

To the City of Chicago,As the evening shadows fall,There are people dreaming,Of the hills of Donegal.

Eighteen forty seven,Was the year it all began,Deadly Pains of hunger,Drove a million from the land,They journeyed not for glory,Their motive wasn't greed,Just a voyage of survival,Across the stormy sea.

To the City of Chicago,As the evening shadows fall,There are people dreaming,Of the hills of Donegal.

Some of them knew fortune,And some them knew fame,More of them knew hardship,And died upon the plain,They spread throughout the nation,Rode the railroad cars,Brought their songs and music,To ease their lonely hearts.

To the City of Chicago,As the evening shadows fall,There are people dreaming,Of the hills of Donegal.

About Me

Melanie Link Taylor is an educator and edu blogger in Southern California, credentialed in both General Education and Special Education.
Melanie teaches the Severely Handicapped at Silverado High School, Victorville, California. She is an Edutopia mentor-on-call, member of ISTE, and a Teach100 mentor.
She received her B.A. in English, and minor in Art, from Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles, and her M.A. in Special Education from Chapman University.
She also cultivates the Melanie Link Taylor Teaching Garden and Wildlife Habitat in Southern California.